Practice Innovation Assistant

Practice Innovation Assistant

Orrick currently has an excellent opportunity for a Practice Innovation Assistant, with a preference for candidates based in our Washington, DC, New York and Boston offices or one of our West Coast U.S. offices (Los Angeles, Orange County, Portland, Sacramento, San Francisco, Santa Monica, Silicon Valley, or Seattle). The Practice Innovation Assistant (PIA) is a key member of our Team Support department in the firm's Innovation group.

The PIA provides high-impact administrative, operational, and legal practice support to assigned attorneys while also driving innovation at the firm. This role is designed for professionals who are passionate about technology, eager to develop expertise in legal operations, and committed to supporting high-performing legal and operations teams.

The PIA functions as a strategic partner to attorneys — acting as an extension of their practice, proactively managing priorities, anticipating needs, exercising independent judgment, and ensuring that attorneys' time, focus, and resources are aligned to the highest-value work. The PIA acts as a digital fluency coach - learning, mastering, and training peers and attorneys on firm tools and platforms, including emerging technology such as AI and automation.

They proactively manage workflows, coordinate projects, and ensure seamless execution of administrative tasks, while maintaining the highest standards of professionalism and discretion. This role goes beyond task execution to include decision support, prioritization, and end-to-end ownership of administrative and operational outcomes for assigned attorneys. The PIA is both an individual contributor and a collaborative team player, engaging positively with colleagues, adapting to change, and driving continuous improvement.

Responsibilities include general support, digital fluency & technology coaching, legal practice support, billing & financial coordination, project management & process improvement, and continuous learning & team collaboration.

Qualifications include a bachelor's degree (or equivalent experience), 3–7 years professional experience, exceptional organizational and project management skills, advanced proficiency in Microsoft 365, strong written and verbal communication skills, and the ability to work in the office at least three days a week, and the ability to work overtime when required.

Preferred qualifications include 2+ years experience serving as mentor to others, experience supporting C-suite executives, senior leaders, or in high-stakes client service roles, operations management, business operations, or executive office support experience, experience with GenAI (ChatGPT, Copilot), Power BI, or other automation/data analytics platforms, analytical mindset with the ability to interpret and use data to inform decisions, track record of full project ownership with exceptional follow-through and attention to detail, proactive, solutions-oriented, and adaptable;

thrives in ambiguity and change, ability to serve as a resource for colleagues by developing mastery in specific applications or systems, and demonstrated ability to act as a trusted advisor to senior stakeholders.